Motocalypse Now

2007/08
Two installations and soundtrack for indoor and / or outdoor use
Size: Large Mercedes – variable

A constantly burning car, that looks like there is passengers trapped inside.

Soundtrack: Motocalypso by Tony Ikonen

Click image to enlarge.

Motocalypse Now

In the installation Microclimate, the passengers appear to be trapped inside a flaming and smoking vehicle. The cabin is filled with smoke and pollution and the figures are scratching and knocking the windshield in agony, unable to get out of the capsule.

Motocalypse Now shows a Mercedes car transformed into a grave monument of itself. Like a sarcophagus or tombstone, the car is covered with ivy and other vegetation and is slowly being consumed by natural processes. A marble plate, partly visible through the ivy, reads, «Petrol-Fuelled Car, 1885 – 2010, Rest in Peace».

The installations intone a requiem for the extraordinary success of petrol-fuelled cars. This petrol era was proven very effective and beloved by masses, but in the long run too harmful towards the environment. The end of the petrol culture has reached its final moments, and in the installation this is celebrated by a roaring and boisterous swansong.